93 850 Idle Surge and Stalling

Post by **Wagonizer** » 28 Jun 2007, 16:00

any progress?
I'm curious as I'm having what seems like the same problem. I'm suspecting a vacuum leak.

Mulvane · Post by **Mulvane** » 29 Jun 2007, 09:48

Well, something I know I checked was the Mass Airflow Sensor, but dealer said they plugged a new one in and its running fine. On the flip side of this, I have oil from the engine in my coolant now. Looks like my volvo ownership is coming to an end soon. Really liked the car but the repair is more than I paid for it and more than its worth. Temporary fixes aren't good when you have a family with 3 kids.

Mulvane · Post by **Mulvane** » 29 Jun 2007, 12:47

I bought the car used with 168K on it. Its been spot on reliable. I add 100 miles a day doing normal 5 day workshifts. That'd doesn't include the in and around mileage. This isn't an ongoing problem but something that occured 2 weeks ago I have been trying to fix. I took what I knew already about auto repairs and tried to fix what I thought it could be myself. I changed out my TPS, checked various other sensors. I had a shop look at it a week ago and they told me it was a knock sensor but it would be 75 an hour for 4 pages of diagnostic test. At that point, I had no choice but to drive it. I got it to a Volvo dealer Tuesday and they say it WAS the Mass Airflow Sensor after all. I'd have been spot on sure it wasn't, but they said it runs like a champ now and are charging a reasonable amount for the labor and parts. Its just that now, I have oil in the coolant system and the cheapest cause I know for that is blown head gasket which was quoted at $1900 for repair. I paid $2500 for the car. Like I said, been really happy with the car and being my first Volvo have grown fond of it. I'm in the US NAVY, have a fairly sparse income, a wife and 3 kids (6/3/2 months) and I can't afford that kind of repair right now. So yes, this looks like the end of my Volvo ownership, sadly.

Trilarry · Post by **Trilarry** » 29 Jun 2007, 13:34

M,
If you have the time and a little money you can fix this head gasket for under $500.00. I just did mine this past February. Valve job was about 225.00, gaskets for 80.00 and timing belt (optional was 18.00). If you have a spare vehicle you could take your time and finish this in a day or two. If no valve job is required you save even more money and it will take you about 8 hours after the head is resurfaced.

One more thing, make sure it is actually oil in the coolant and not tranny fluid, sometimes the radiator breaks down and allows tranny fluid into the radiator, circulating it into the coolant system.

Just something to consider.
Tri

Mulvane · Post by **Mulvane** » 29 Jun 2007, 13:59

I've got enough technical know how and actual mechanic friends that i COULD do the repairs. At this point, my only other vehicle is a 93 F-150 standard cab. Family of 5 isn't working in that situation. I'm gonna try to get the vehicle back home (I have 2.5 acres of storage

). If I can tear down the engine and effect repairs over time I will. I would like to get the car fixed at a little town putter and backup for things like this (stuck with a rental right now)...Thanks for the useful input in things to check on this..

Paul-93-850 · Post by **Paul-93-850** » 19 Jun 2018, 18:33

I had similar surging and rough idle on my 1993..

I replaced the rubber ends on the small vacuum hoses using pieces from a roll of 5/32 vacuum tubing that I had sitting around. I replaced the intake manifold gasket, the PCV hoses, the vacuum tree, the brake booster hose etc. Removing the intake manifold and the EGR was not easy or pleasant.

Runs fine now.